168: Chapter 168 Class Monitor, I'm here to keep you company...

However, just as the group had run halfway, the sound of gunfire suddenly erupted in the distance, one volley after another.

Professor Zhou's pupils dilated abruptly, and an unnatural look of terror appeared on his face: "Oh no! They must have encountered those strange red creatures!"

In that instant, a chill ran down everyone's spines, and they were instantly drenched in cold sweat.

Was it true? Even after twenty years, these strange red creatures had appeared again!

"Quick! We have to speed up! Let's go!"

Immediately, with Mu Li and Tu Kun in the lead, they took the Archaeological Team and rushed toward where the trucks were parked as fast as they could.

At that moment, no one noticed. Ye Xiao stood in the group, his face filled with suspicion.

A moment later, the group returned to the stone tower where the trucks were parked.

However, the scene before them caused a chill to rise in everyone present.

The patch of sand, which had originally been level, now had an unnaturally collapsed section in the middle.

In the collapsed sand pit, severed limbs clad in military uniforms were exposed, the visible skin showing an extremely unnatural pallor.

Seeing this, Mu Li and Tu Kun's expressions changed abruptly, and they repeatedly shouted into the sand pit, calling out the names of the two squad leaders and the other fighters.

Yet, after a long time... there was no response.

The soldiers who had been left behind to keep guard, as well as the captain and others who had returned first, had all vanished without a trace!

Ye Xiao, standing in the group, also wore a look of deep suspicion.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, Ye Xiao cast his gaze to the side.

He unexpectedly saw one of the team members in an inconspicuous corner of the group silently crouch down and pick something up from near their feet.

Then, they secretly slipped the item they had picked up into their pocket. This sequence of actions was fluid and natural, without a single wasted movement.

If not for Ye Xiao's keen senses, it would have been impossible to notice this person's actions.

Ye Xiao turned his head away as if nothing had happened, acting as if he hadn't seen a thing, though his eyes narrowed slightly. "This person... is suspicious!"

However, before Ye Xiao could think further, everyone suddenly realized that the layer of sand beneath their feet seemed to be vibrating.

Shifting their gaze, they saw something wriggling incessantly beneath the surrounding sand, quickly surrounding them.

Moreover, these wriggling things were moving at an incredibly fast speed. "Oh no! It's those red creatures!"

Seeing this, a familiar feeling instantly flooded Professor Zhou's heart. His heart jumped into his throat, and he turned his gaze toward the two military trucks in the distance.

One of them had a tire stuck in a sand pit and was basically useless! So, immediately, he shouted: "Quick! Get to the trucks! Hurry!"

Panic was written on every face, and the shadow of death loomed over everyone.

Although it was two in the afternoon, the hottest time in the desert, a chill couldn't stop rising from the soles of their feet.

No one dared to hesitate for even a second; they all frantically opened their strides and ran toward the military trucks on the other side of the sand pit.

But... stumbling through the sand pit, how could their speed compare to the creatures wriggling rapidly beneath the sand?

Soon, these creatures surged to their very front. The rapidly wriggling mounds in the sand suddenly burst open, and a blood-red worm as thick as a bucket lunged out.

Just a fleeting glance made everyone's scalp tingle. The blood-red worm opened its massive mouth filled with sharp mouthparts, dripping with mucus, and lunged toward Professor Zhou at the back of the group.

It seemed as if it intended to swallow Professor Zhou whole. "Bang... bang bang bang..."

The sound of gunfire erupted suddenly. Mu Li and Tu Kun both raised their guns, firing at the critical moment to fend off the blood-red worm's attack.

The sharp bullets struck the blood-red worm, and it instantly let out a piercing shriek that sounded like metal clashing against stone.

Those standing nearby immediately had blood leaking from their ears, feeling dizzy and plagued by incessant ringing. Professor Zhou, old and frail, nearly collapsed to the ground from the impact.

Seeing this, Ye Xiao flipped his hand, and an ancient-looking bell suddenly appeared. He shook it twice, and the bell emitted a sound like rushing water, completely dispelling everyone's discomfort.

"Quick! Run back to the trucks!" Ye Xiao roared, snapping everyone out of their daze.

The group glanced back at the massive blood-red worm behind them and didn't dare to pause their steps for even a moment. Gritting their teeth, they all ran toward the pickup trucks in the distance.

They were only about ten meters away from the pickup trucks, but at this moment, it felt like an unbridgeable chasm lay between them, impossible to cross no matter what.

At the back of the group, Mu Li and Tu Kun had bloodshot eyes, with thin trails of blood leaking from their ears. They retreated in an orderly fashion while attacking the strange, massive worm in front of them, their bullets connecting in a steady rhythm.

Just then, not far from them, a rapidly moving mound in the sand dune reached them.

The mound burst open, and another massive blood-red worm leaped out from beneath the sand. Wriggling its sharp mouthparts, it lunged violently toward Mu Li and Tu Kun, clearly intending to swallow them both whole.

By the time Mu Li and Tu Kun discovered this other worm and tried to turn to attack, it was already too late.

The worm leaped high into the air, its massive body completely blocking out the sun and casting a shadow. This was like the shadow of death, chilling Mu Li and Tu Kun to the bone.

Professor Zhou, running ahead, seemed to sense something and turned back. Suddenly seeing this scene, his eyes nearly burst with horror: "No—"

But it was too late; Tu Kun was about to become food in the belly of this terrifying worm. Everyone closed their eyes in despair.

Even Tu Kun couldn't react in time; he could already smell the foul, fishy stench spewing from the worm's mouth.

"Squad leader, I'm coming to join you..." This was likely Tu Kun's final thought.

He was about to slowly close his eyes... and in doing so, it seemed he would never open them again.

However, in the next second, just as Tu Kun's eyes were about to close, waiting quietly for death, a flash of ink-colored blade light suddenly streaked before his eyes.

Tu Kun snapped his eyes open, his pupils dilating instantly! The red worm leaping before him suddenly halted its forward momentum and fell heavily onto the sand.

The worm's mouthparts and its bucket-thick body had already been separated! The cut was perfectly clean.

In an instant, Tu Kun felt as if a figure had flashed before his eyes, and then the gunfire suddenly stopped. Along with the cessation of gunfire, the shrieking of the other blood-red worm also ended.

Looking again, both blood-red worms were decapitated, their innards and blood spilled all over the ground, filthy and revolting!